270px, Manai Falls 270px, Mount Sobo 270px, Yokagura is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Nishiusuki District,

Miyazaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Miyazaki Prefecture has a population of 1,028,215 as of 1 January 2025 and has a geographic area of 7,735 Square kilometre, km2 (2,986 sq mi). Miyazaki Prefectur ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the town has an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 11,065 in 4865 households, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 47 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Takachiho is in the northernmost part of

, in the

Kyushu Mountains Kyushu Mountains () is a mountain range that runs from northeast to southwest in central Kyushu. The highest peak of the mountain range is Mount Sobo is one of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains. The mountain lies on the border of Taketa, � ...

, bordering

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...

on its north and northwest sides and

Ōita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Ōita Prefecture has a population of 1,081,646 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 6,340 km2 (2,448 sq mi). Ōita Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northwest, K ...

on its north and northeast sides. The 106-kilometer Gokase River flows from the west to the southeast part of town. Takachiho Gorge located slightly south of the town center, is a famous tourist destination. The urban center is around the now-defunct Takachiho Station and the business office of Takachiho Kotsu, the town's public transportation company, and is approximately 120 km northwest of Miyazaki, the prefectural capital, and approximately 80 km southeast of

Kumamoto is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a populat ...

Neighboring municipalities

* Aso District: Takamori * Kamimashiki District:

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...

* Higashiusuki District: Morotsuka * Nishiusuki District: Gokase, Hinokage

* Bungo-ōno * Taketa

Climate

Takachiho has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa'') with hot, humid summers and cool winters. The average annual temperature in Takachiho is . The average annual rainfall is with June as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Takachiho was on 16 July 2006; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 19 February 1977.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Takachiho in 2020 is 11,642 people. Takachiho has been conducting censuses since 1960.

History

The area of Takachiho was part of ancient

Hyūga Province was a province of Japan in the area of southeastern Kyūshū, corresponding to modern Miyazaki Prefecture Hyūga bordered on Ōsumi to the south, Higo to the west, and Bungo to the north. Its abbreviated form name was , although it was als ...

. It features prominently in

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contac ...

as the land where

Ninigi is a deity in Japanese mythology. (-no-Mikoto here is an honorific title applied to the names of Japanese gods; Ninigi is the specific god's name.) Grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu, Ninigi is regarded according to Japanese mythology as the ...

descended from the heavens, sent by

Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...

, the sun goddess. It contains the

Ama-no-Iwato is a cave in Japanese mythology. According to the ''Kojiki'' (''Records of Ancient Matters'') and the ''Nihon Shoki'', the bad behavior of Susano'o, the Japanese god of storms, drove his sister Amaterasu into the Ama-no-Iwato cave. The land w ...

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

which is, according to myth, the location of the cave where Amaterasu hid until

Ame-no-Uzume is the goddess of Dawn goddess, dawn, mirth, meditation, revelry and the arts in the Shinto religion of Japan, and the wife of fellow-god Sarutahiko Ōkami. (-no-Mikoto is a common honorific appended to the names of Japanese gods; it may be unde ...

lured her out. From the late

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

into the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

, the area was controlled by the Kikuchi clan, which was associated with

Aso Shrine is a Jinja (shrine), Shinto Shrine in Aso, Kumamoto, Aso, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan.Richard Ponsonby-Fane, Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). ''Studies in Shinto and Shrines,'' p. 477; Kotodamaya.com"Aso Jinja" retrieved 2012-10-29. Aso is one of ...

Higo Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Provinces. History The cas ...

. The area later was contested between the

Shimazu clan The were the ''daimyō'' of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan. The Shimazu were identified as one of the '' tozama'' or outsider ''daimyō'' familiesAppert, Georges ''et al.'' (1888). in contr ...

Satsuma Province was an old province of Japan that is now the western half of Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Satsuma" in . Its abbreviation was . History Satsuma's provincial capital was Satsumasendai. Dur ...

and the Otomo clan of

Bungo Province was a province of Japan in the area of eastern Kyūshū, corresponding to most of modern Ōita Prefecture, except what is now the cities of Nakatsu and Usa. Bungo bordered on Hyūga to the south, Higo and Chikugo to the west, and Chikuze ...

. After the establishment of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, it was part of the holdings of

Nobeoka Domain file:Masataka Naito.jpg, 270px, Naito Masataka, final ''daimyō'' of Nobeoka Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now central Miyazaki Prefecture. It was centered around Nobeoka Ca ...

. The village of Takachiho within

Nishiusuki District, Miyazaki is a district located in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. As of October 2020, the district has an estimated population of 18,749 and the density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volum ...

was established on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. Takachiho was raised to town status on April 1, 1920. Around 1920,

arsenopyrite Arsenopyrite ( IMA symbol: Apy) is an iron arsenic sulfide (FeAsS). It is a hard ( Mohs 5.5–6) metallic, opaque, steel grey to silver white mineral with a relatively high specific gravity of 6.1. When dissolved in nitric acid, it releases el ...

was mined in the northern part of the town, and the production of

arsenite In chemistry, an arsenite is a chemical compound containing an arsenic oxyanion where arsenic has oxidation state +3. Note that in fields that commonly deal with groundwater chemistry, arsenite is used generically to identify soluble AsIII anions ...

supported the town's economy until the mine was closed in 1962. On September 30, 1956 Takachiho annexed the neighboring towns of Iwato and Tahara, followed by the town of Ueno April 1, 1969. During World War Two, the 2nd Raiding Brigade trained in the town and were sometimes known as the Takachiho paratroopers. Takachiho town panorama

Economy

The main industry of Takachiho are agriculture, forestry and tourism. The town is noted for its rice terraces.

Education

Takachiho has five public elementary schools and two public junior high schools operated by the town government and one public high school operated by the Miyazaki Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railways

Takachiho has no passenger rail service. The nearest train station is on the

Minamiaso Railway Takamori Line The is a Japanese railway line in Kumamoto Prefecture, between Tateno Station (Kumamoto), Tateno Station, Minamiaso, Kumamoto, Minamiaso, and Takamori Station, Takamori, Kumamoto, Takamori. This is the only railway line operates. The line traver ...

or on the

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan. It formerly operated the Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait be ...

Hōhi Main Line The is a railway line in Kyushu, southern Japan, operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It connects the west and east coasts of the island. The line originates at Kumamoto Station in Kumamoto and ends at terminal of Ōita Station ...

. The town was formerly served by the 50.0

Takachiho Railway was a Japanese railway company. The company in Miyazaki Prefecture suspended operation of the railway after a typhoon disaster in 2005 and was liquidation, liquidated in 2009. Line The company operated the Takachiho Line connecting Nobeoka Stati ...

, which ran from Nobeoka to Takachiho Station, with one intermediate stations within Takachiho. Services were discontinued on September 6, 2005, after flooding triggered by

Typhoon Nabi Typhoon Nabi (), known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Jolina, was a powerful typhoon that struck southwestern Japan in early September 2005. The 14th tropical cyclone naming, named storm of the 2005 Pacific typhoon season, Nabi formed on Aug ...

washed away two bridges on the line, halting all operations. Efforts to obtain funding for rebuilding were unsuccessful, and the company was liquidated in 2009.

Highways

Kyushu Chūō Expressway * *

Local attractions

Takachiho is the heart of the Himuka Myth Road, which extends throughout Miyazaki. * Amanoiwato-jinja *Kunimigaoka * Shonen-ji * Takachiho Gorge **Manai Waterfall *Takachiho Onsen *Takachiho Shrine

In popular culture

Takachiho is featured in the manga and anime series ''

Oshi no Ko is a Japanese manga series written by Aka Akasaka and illustrated by Mengo Yokoyari. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Young Jump'' from April 2020 to November 2024, with its chapters collected in 16 volumes. It follows a doctor ...

'', as the location of the hospital where Ai Hoshino gave birth to her twins and main characters of the series, Aquamarine and Ruby Hoshino.

References

External links

Official website

Takachiho-cho Tourism Association
* * {{Miyazaki Towns in Miyazaki Prefecture